How to use the Sortes Empedocleae

Empedokles of Akragas has a ton of associations with Persephone (indeed, a third of Günther Zuntz’s monumental tome is devoted tracing out some of these threads) so on this, the beginning of her South Italian festival, I figured I’d flesh out the Sortes Empedocleae system I came up with a while back. One of the critiques I received was that at 160+ cards it was a little unwieldy and difficult to shuffle. So I approached the goddess whom he addresses as Nestis in the Katharmoi and asked to unlock the secrets of this system so that this Sicilian holy man and hero of the thiasos of the Starry Bull might speak with his people once more. And here are the instructions I received:

Thoroughly shuffle the deck. Divide the cards into three sections.

These represent:

1. What you desire. (Eros)
2. Conflicts and impediments. (Eris)
3. What needs to be done to obtain your ends. (Harmonia)

Draw three cards from each stack and then interpret.

There are other methods for employing this system – find the one that works best for you! This one feels really right, though, especially when you consider one of the central tenets of his philosophy:

Now they are drawn together by Love, now each is borne apart by the hatred engendered of Strife, and again at another time they are brought together in Unity; these elements never stop changing place and are continuously in motion so it is as if they exist perpetually within an immovable circle.